We bought our first pet, a kitten, and brought the little thing home. I set it down on the kitchen floor. We were not ready to have a human baby. This cat’s baby was going to have to do. She was small and had baby eyes.

We agreed where to put the food and water in the kitchen. That was nice. I took out the shampoo and kitty brush and comb and put these in the bathroom. It was nearly dark when we finished. The day had been long and full and we had skipped lunch. We were hungry. I took out yesterday’s bread and a jar of peanut butter. I love peanut butter and hate day old bread. He’s not fussy about day old bread, but does not like peanut butter.

He called a local pizza parlor we used and ordered a large pizza. I was not sure we could afford it after spending so much at the pet store. He said he would go and pick it up to save money on delivery and the tip. ” I’d go with you, but we shouldn’t leave the kitten alone on her first night here.”

Each of us looked down at the kitchen floor. She was not where we left her. He HAD to go get the pizza and I began to search for the kitten. “Here Kitty, kitty, kitty!” I cried out. We had not given her a name yet. My husband came home with the pizza and I was not hungry. I ate one piece. He had his fill after eating three pieces and we put the rest in the refrigerator. We both spent the evening looking for our new kitten. We looked and looked. At two a.m. we finally fell into bed to sleep for four hours. We both were new teachers. We got up at six a.m.

Leaving that Monday was hard to do. Everyone knew that we were getting a kitten. We had just had our wedding. The kitten was not like having a baby, but it was an addition to our household. I cried at lunch about our absentee kitten. Kittens are unique we were told. They can hide in small places.

We kept looking for the kitten all that Monday night. Again we searched until we were too tired to stumble around the house. We went to work with the same news. We couldn’t find our nameless kitten. It was hard on both of us.

Neither of us slept well on Monday night. My husband used the bathroom first and showered and shaved. We had just one bathroom. I went into the bathroom and showered. I always washed my hair because I am blonde and my hair does not keep from snarling overnight. I put on my robe and sat down on the edge of the tub to brush out the tangles from my wet hair. I had a hairdryer and I plugged it in. I turned it on and for a moment I thought I heard a “meow”. I listened some more and heard nothing. I again turned the hairdryer on and I saw the kitten come out from behind the toilet. She streaked across the bathroom floor and went into the kitchen and sat down on the floor, almost exactly in the place where I had put her when we came home with her.

I didn’t dare yell out to my husband. He came down the hall and I grabbed him and showed him the kitten in the kitchen. I closed the bathroom door. I started crying with happiness. He picked her up and pet her while I went and put school clothes on. We closed the bedroom doors. We put her in front of her food and water bowls. She was hungry and she ate. We felt victorious.

We both pet her and worried about leaving her for our workday. We had numbers of people applauding us at our schools. I told my Kindergarten students the whole story then. They were so excited. I could not wait to get home that day. My husband unlocked our door and opened it up. We expected to see her on the floor. She wasn’t there! She was on top of the door and she jumped down onto my head.